Post navigation

Very cool podcast, just stumbled upon it!
The principle at work is the one Robert Cialdini describes in one of his books :

Two neighborhoods, two different approaches.
In one, people where asked to put a big sign in their yard, on which is written “drive slowly”.
Nearly everybody refused.

In the other, similar, neighborhood, people were asked to take a survey, in which they were asked if they are in favor of preserving the beauty of their state. Of course, most people responded that they were.

3 weeks later, they were asked to put the same big sign in their yard…. Most people agreed!

Cialdini explains this with the need of consistency : when you’ve begun heading in one direction ( being a responsible citizen in this case), you’re more likely to follow up because people have a DEEP need for consistency.

The same method was used vers successfully by the chinese government to brainwash american captives.. (they asked them to write down ONE bad thing about america, and one thing that is good about communism). At the end, by taking these steps, they were most likely to be convinced about what they said before, even if it was forced.

So, to sum up : asking an initial, simple favor, a easy engagement… is a killer way to ensure that people will agree to -much- more later, if it is congruent!
Thanks a lot for showing that this principle also works online, great podcast 🙂

Search for:

Don't Miss Out

Join more than 200,000 other smart people who get marketing tips, success stories, and more delivered right to their inboxes.